While the site is at pains to point out that its sources are simply pointing to New Line registering the title as a way of protecting copyright, it wouldn’t be the first time the film has been floated under a different name. There was speculation that it might end up being called The Battle Of Five Armies when the plan to split the story into a trilogy was first announced.

Of course, it seems awfully late to be changing things now, especially with merchandising partners’ long lead times to consider and the fact that both die hard fans and general moviegoers are used to referring to the film as There And Back Again. It’s also possible that the title registration is simply to cover the company’s bases in case it decides to use it for another project such as a video game tie-in. There has been no official word on the matter just yet.

For now, what we do know is that the third Hobbit entry will see Bilbo, the dwarfs, Gandalf and the Elves taking arms against the destructive force that is the dragon Smaug and other dark forces swirling around Middle-earth. It’ll hit cinemas on December 12.